Pro-lifers prep for first March for Life of Trump's second term

Pro-life supporters prepared to gather in Washington, D.C. for the annual March for Life on Friday, days after President Donald Trump again took office. Trump waffled on his stance on abortion during his 2024 campaign, leaving many pro-lifers feeling either uncertain about his views or even betrayed by them. He has pointed out, though, that the Supreme Court justices he nominated were instrumental in striking down Roe v. Wade. Meanwhile, Trump’s wife Melania wrote in her memoir last year that she supported giving women the legal right to kill their unborn babies via abortion.

Why march after Dobbs? The march comes nearly three years after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which had granted women a constitutional right to abort their unborn babies. The decision gave states the right to decide for themselves whether they would recognize a legal right for women to kill their unborn babies or not. Since that decision, states’ abortion policies have varied in their restrictiveness with many allowing abortions, according to a tracker by the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute.

Who is speaking at the March for Life this year? The theme of the march will be “Every Life: Why We March,” the organization said late last year. The organization earlier this month published a list of headline speakers including:

• Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis

• U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J.

• Shark attack survivor Bethany Hamilton, profiled in the inspirational biopic Soul Surfer

• Dr. Catherine Wheeler, a former abortionist turned pro-life advocate

• Abortion survivor Josiah Presley

• Live Action President Lila Rose

• Mama Bear Care CEO Beverly Jacobson

• March for Life President-elect Jennie Bradley Lichter

• Catholic pro-life advocate Rev. Daniel E. Thomas

• Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod President Rev. Dr. Matthew Harrison

• Wheaton College Voice for Life President Hannah Lape

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s report in The Sift from earlier this week about pro-life advocates’ efforts to get Congress to overturn the FACE Act.